New Delhi, Sept. 3 -- George Clooney and Danny Boyle are helping kick off the Venice Film Festival in style Wednesday on the Lido. Clooney, a festival mainstay, is receiving a lifetime achievement award, while Boyle is premiering "Ink," his film about Rupert Murdoch's acquisition of the British tabloid "The Sun" in 1969.

Over the course of the next 11 days, the festival will see many stars from Hollywood and beyond grace the red carpet, from Robert Pattinson to Noel and Liam Gallagher of Oasis, but the focus this year seems to be more on geopolitics than movie star moments. The sprawling lineup includes documentaries about the conflict in Gaza ( "Naza" ), Elon Musk ("Musk") and independent Russian journalists covering the war in Ukraine ...